Sassy Sorbet

Chef Michelle Myers spills her sorbet secrets

Slide 1 Of SASSY SORBET

Michal Venera

Chef Michelle Myers's smile is as bright as the rainbow of fruits she uses for flavoring sorbet. Her Raspberry-Rose Sorbet is a perennial at Boule, a chic Los Angeles bakery across the street from Sona, the equally fashionable restaurant that Michelle and her husband, David, founded and own.

At Boule, on La Cienega Boulevard, Michelle practices her chef's art on pastries, chocolates, and, now, an ever-changing array of interestingly flavored sorbets. Her favorite? "Oh, Raspberry-Rose, for sure," says Michelle. "It tastes exactly like raspberries, but with an added old-fashioned rose fragrance and taste. It's a deep, American-Beauty Rose color, and it's as creamy as if it contained a gallon of heavy cream."

Elegant boutique bakeries and shops featuring sophisticated pastries and chocolate are adding sorbet or gelato to their delicious rosters. One of the best in this new breed of bakery is Boule in Los Angeles, and, not surprisingly in this land of bountiful fruit, its latest dessert is sorbet.

The shop's color palette is pale blue-green, and the packaging-including hatboxes filled with star-quality edible gifts-matches. Boule is an inspiring place, where a few bites of something scrumptious satisfy a need for self-indulgence.

"Pastry is a form of art," notes pastry chef Michelle Myers, a Cordon Bleu graduate. "Just as painters express themselves on canvas, I express myself in pastry." Next, Boule is expanding with an atelier-workshop where you'll be able to watch chef Michelle and her staff produce their scintillating sweet somethings.

BOULE is located at 420 North La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles (310/289-9977 or boulela.com[8]).

These other restaurants also serve scrumptious sorbet:

ARIA is in the Fairmont Chicago hotel at 200 North Columbus Drive, Chicago (312/444-9494 or ariachicago.com[9]).

RESTAURANT AUGUST is located at 301 Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans (504/299-9777 or rest-august.com[10]).

GRAMERCY TAVERN is at 42 East 20th Street, New York City (212/477-0777 orgramercytavern.com[11]).